Credit Card Debt And Retirement
For those who are close to retirement, the ideal situation is to enter it debt-free. But for many consumers who are carrying high levels of credit card debt, this will be difficult to achieve. The difficult economy has fractured many people's retirement plans over the last decade, and according to a recent survey 56% of retirees had outstanding debts when they left the workforce.
Yet 96% of these refused to delay retirement because of the outstanding debt. Over half of all seniors said they use credit cards to buy medicine and pay for visits to the doctor, hospital and other medical expenses. Many are also using credit cards to help adult children who have lost jobs. Debt can be a major obstacle to retirement goals since retirees are living on a fixed income. It may be a good idea to delay retirement until you pay off your debts, if possible.